


Girl in the Glade

by wonderingcloud



Category: The Maze Runner (Movies), The Maze Runner Series - All Media Types
Genre: Action & Romance, Angst, F/M, Female Protagonist, Fluff, Gen, Gladers, Heartbreak, Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, POV Female Character, Platonic Female/Male Relationships, Post-The Maze Runner, Pre-The Maze Runner, Runners, Safe Haven (Maze Runner), Strong Female Characters, med jack
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-12-24
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:48:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24944881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wonderingcloud/pseuds/wonderingcloud
Summary: It has been nearly two years since the first Glader arrived in the Maze, scared, confused, angry and memoryless. They survived the only way they knew how, through strict order and self-preservation. So, imagine their shock when the box opens to reveal not just a new Greenie, but a girl... the very first girl Glader.Surrounded only by boys Marie finds herself literally thrown into a new world, a prison keeping her confined within its enormous stone walls. She thinks to survive she'll have to prove she's tougher than the rest of them, that she doesn't need anyone by her side - even if that is not entirely true...A certain builder might show her that survival is possible, but you have to love in order to live.
Relationships: Brenda/Thomas (Maze Runner), Gally (Maze Runner) & Original Character(s), Gally (Maze Runner)/Original Character(s), Gally (Maze Runner)/Original Female Character(s), Gally/OC, Teresa Agnes/Thomas (Maze Runner), gally x oc
Comments: 6
Kudos: 42





	1. Drowning

Darkness. Just darkness.

That was what engulfed me. Darkness and a stench so pungent it choked my airways, it felt like I was gagging on nothing. Drowning. I was drowning – but where was the water? Cold metal ridges grated against my spine. No water, only metal. My head sprang forwards, the darkness swimming around me as I did, my head vacant.

A sound, in my head. No, a voice. Whispering, pleading, promising, was it my own? I searched blindly, but I couldn’t find it. Nothing but a distant echo…

I couldn’t think. My mind was a blank page. Bubbles of panic surged in my chest and I was drowning again in my own ragged, panting breaths. I couldn’t remember. There was a floor beneath me, the same cold material, my fingers scraped the surface. I couldn’t think. Why couldn’t I think? My heart pounded wildly in my chest, trying to escape the cage of bone that entrapped it and run. All I wanted to do was run. My muscles were frozen rigid. I couldn’t remember.

I couldn’t remember… anything.

My hand found my face, feeling each curve anew. I did not know that face. Or the fingers touching it. I had hair, it was long in my hands, falling through my fingers like my memories were. Slipping away. It was like trying to grasp sand, watching it escape onto the floor. Names, places, memories… I knew what all those words meant, but I had none to call my own.

Things. I could remember things. Hands, noses, cheekbones, eyes and sun and sky and grass and trees and buildings and bridges. I knew what all those things were, but I could create no image of those I had seen in my mind. The crate I was in had metal, cage-bar like walls. Did it have a top?

I slowly inched to my feet, swallowed by shadows. I was in a corner and used it to guide myself upwards. Almost hesitantly I reached out my hand, my fingertips stroking something solid above me. It had a ceiling. Both hands traced the material, it was more of the same grid-like metal, and it didn’t budge when I touched it. Maybe if I tried harder… And then the box moved. I let out a startled scream as I was falling, my back crashing onto the floor. But I wasn’t falling, I was rocketing upwards. My hands grasped the sides with a yelp of terror, instinctively trying to steady myself. The world around me clanked and groaned slowly, whilst my body and mind raced faster than I could comprehend as the room flew upwards, cold beads of sweat dripping down the back of my neck. What was I going up to?

A sudden lurch had me falling forward. The box stopped moving with a shudder and I reached my hands out, slamming into something hard. I fell to the floor. There was something next to me. A flash of light. Letters printed on a box. A Word.

W.I.C.K.D

The metal floor carved into my throbbing knees. Senses sparked across my skin, a faint pulse resonating in my neck, a dull throb alongside it. My body hurt; my mind was screaming. Where was I? My muscles were tight, taut, and ready to bolt. I couldn’t remember. I wanted to run. But run where? I was trapped in here. Adrenaline pulsated through every nerve splaying across every part of my body. But I lay there, no breath to move with.

I listened. There was something. There were sounds, no voices. They were voices coming from somewhere – somewhere above me. They were talking, no shouting – faded, muddled shouting. They were coming closer. But whatever was out there couldn’t be any worse than being in here.

“HEY!” I called up into the darkness. “Hey! Someone help me!”

Is that what my voice sounded like? Strangely scratching and raw, like I had been screaming before this, my entire throat ground to nothing. It was foreign in my ears like it belonged to a stranger. I scrambled up, crouching back in the corner. Footsteps, like a stampede now, I was right, they were above me. Lots of them. 

“Let me out of here!” I cried again.

Without warning the top flew open and instantaneously my eyes flooded with a blinding light that screamed in my head. Cringing I lifted my arms to block it as a way to throw away the glaring brightness.

“It’s a girl!”

A voice. A voice I understood. I had to see it.

Silence followed.

“I guess we know what we’re doing next.” I could just hear a smirk in the other voice. A sickness crawled into my stomach.

“Knock it off.” A sterner one added, sharp, authoritative, disapproving. Different again.

There were blurs. Shapes. No, figures. People. Lots of people. My heart was in my throat.

“You’re alright Shank!” The same voice called, somehow, I knew it was towards me, “We’ll get you out of there.”

I lifted my head more. The figures snapped into focus. They were boys. Every single one of them. My eyes widened in realisation.

“Bloody hell!” It called again, “He’s right. We got an actual girl.”

My stomach dropped into a raging dark pit, plummeting downwards. Everywhere I looked. They were above me. All whispering, staring, pointing at me. I needed to get out. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breathe. My lungs burned as I heaved, panic clawing at my throat and squeezing tightly. I couldn’t breathe.

I grappled at the cage behind me, trying to ground herself with the pain of the metals against my fingers. But my breaths were coming out in pants, uncontrollable, my entire body quaking. “Hey!” The voice called to me again, “Slim yourself down, nice and easy. You’re alright Shank.”

All their words spinning rapidly around my mind, what words were they? Slim yourself? Shank? Was I forgetting how to speak too? But I slowly gained control again and the world stopped spinning enough that I could see the figures again. Still all boys.

“Get me out of here!” I gnarled at the one who spoke to me.

Something clanged and I jumped away, every nerve startlingly on edge.

“Hey, it’s okay.” He crouched down so that he was closer to my level. “No one’s going to hurt you.”

“Get. Me. Out. Of. Here.” I repeated, gritting my teeth together. I wasn’t spending a minute longer than I had to in this metal contraption.

The boy must have taken my glare seriously as he nodded. I would be lying if I said he looked at all intimidating. His blonde hair hung low on his forehead, faced grimed like all those around him. Brown trousers and a dirtied white shirt hung loosely off his body. He didn’t look in charge.

“I’m coming down,” He warned slowly, raising his hands in front of him, just to prove to me that he wasn’t going to do anything rash.

Without another choice, I nodded. I needed to get out of here. My legs were weak, trembling under my body weight. But I heaved herself up and made shaky steps towards where he jumped in, landing on his feet easily. “I can give you a leg up.”

I nodded again silently, and hesitantly put my foot upon his cupped hands. When I was sure he wasn’t going to just drop me, I trusted him with my full weight. Ropes came down and I grabbed the end, allowing them to haul me upwards.

My hands touched the ground. Proper ground. I fell harshly onto the earth. There was grass beneath my fingertips. People helped me up as the boy who got in the box also got hoisted out, more gracefully than me I have to say, but I barely glanced his way. 

I was no longer in the box. I was outside. The sky was a pale blue, clouds dotting it like a pattern and large plains of grass surrounded me. In a way, it was beautifully peaceful. But then I turned around and everyone was staring. Everyone was looking and whispering and pointing. Suddenly I couldn’t breathe again. I needed to get out of there.

A new person pushed between the boys. Tall, dark-skinned and older, he reeked of control. “Alright you shanks, move aside.” He ordered, and they did.  
“Welcome to the-”

But I was already gone. I shoved past the gaggle of boys. My legs flew beneath me as the grass danced easily beneath my feet. I had to get out of there.  
“Bloody hell!” The blonde one laughed from behind me.

Others called too. I didn’t care. I had to get out of there. Arms pumping, legs pushing, further and further, I saw a gap in the rocks in front of me.

They started following me. I heard their feet against the ground. However, it was only lightly, as if they were laughing, jogging even. I was sprinting. I had to get out of there.  
My heart thudded in my chest, adrenaline coursing through me in waves, each step a new tide of it washing over me. Further and further. I had to keep running, and running and running… The calls behind me slowly morphed into more desperate ones. They were hollering after me, yelling even, their words a jumble of distorted sounds in my ringing head. I kept running but they were sprinting too now. They wouldn't catch me.

I was nearly there. The ever-growing gap was getting closer and closer.

“Shank! Watch it!”

“Stop! Girlie stop!” Someone called desperately, but I couldn’t stop.

Running, running, running…

My body gave way metres before the opening, taken out from the side. I went flying through the air as a huge weight fell on top of me. Crashing to the floor, pain ricocheted through my body on impact, every last bit of breath leaving me as a crushing mass slammed on top. The world spun.

I tried to move but was pinned down by strong arms, leaving my limbs flailing helplessly. A new face stared back at me. He had dark blonde hair, almost a coppery colour with a sun-flecked face and steel grey eyes boring into my own.

“It’s alright!” A new voice called out, from the person on top of me, it was gruff – annoyed even. “I got her.”

I swung my knee up towards his groin, but he was too quick, catching it in time, a smirk growing on his face, “Not so fast, Greenie.”

The padding feet came to a halt as the rest of the group caught up to us. Suddenly, the boy’s weight shifted from on top of me enough for me to scramble out. Right in front of the others. I turned to run again, but the scary boy was blocking my exit and the giant gaping gap in the rock. All around me, all I could see was boys. And I was most definitely a girl.

“Now,” The blonde boy caught up to us first, breathing slightly heavily, “That was a bit bloody rude, wasn’t it?”

“Where the hell am I?” I cried, my head flailing wildly around the place. The towering wall in front of me reached the entire way around and it dawned on me. I was trapped. Really trapped. “Well, what Alby was trying to tell you before you ran off,” The boy continued, and for the first time I became aware of his accent, it sounded like my voice. He gestured to the tall, scary one with dark skin who stood beside him who reeked of authority, “Welcome to the Glade, Greenie.”

“Don’t call me that.” I snapped at him, “My name’s-”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

“My name’s-” 

I tried again. But nothing came… there was just a blankness.

“It’s-”

Panic bubbled in my chest again, my breath caught in my throat. The blonde boy must have seen my distress because he took a few steps forwards, to which I took a few back. I stumbled, basically back into the scary boy, which caused me to flinch forwards again. He just looked amused at my distress; arms folded casually across his broad chest.

“Hey, it’s okay. Just slim yourself down-”

“Why can’t I remember it?” I cut in, now fuming with anger, “What’s happened to me!?” I stalked towards the boy, rage replacing the fear in my eyes. “Slim it...” The boy from behind warned, but I paid him no heed, eyes trained on the blonde one.

“Tell me what the hell is going on!”

“Hey!”

Everything happened quickly. Someone grabbed my wrist from behind. My stomach lunged into my throat in panic. I swung around my spare fist, connecting with the figure’s face.

“Don’t touch me!”

I don’t know why, but it was an instinct. A loud cry sounded as my fist made contact with the scary boy’s face. His head swung to the side, but I barely had time to register what had happened because someone else grabbed me from behind, wrenching my arms back. Two of them grabbed me and I cried out, pulling against their grip, but they just held on tighter. The blonde one tried to say something, but I didn’t hear over my fighting, watching intently as the boy I punched straightened himself up, his face bright red from where I hit him. I had to try hard to suppress the internal smirk.

“You’ll pay for that one Greenie.” He said slowly and quietly, rubbing his saw jawline. “Put her in the Slammer.”

“Gally!” A loud voice cut through the chaos; I was surprised it came from the blonde boy, he looked so small compared to the one I hit.

I turned to him, a little bit of pleading coming through my eyes at him. I could feel the boys hands digging into my arms, becoming more aware every second of how outnumbered I was.  
“Slow down, she just panicked.”

“Number two rule.” Gally signed with his finger, eyes drawn sharply, “And she’s already broken it.”

“Yeah well, we didn’t get that far did we?” The blonde one replied, “All we did do was freak her out big time. Look,” he sighed, turning his attention to me, “We just need ya to slim it a bit and listen, good that?”

I just stared at him before nodding, anything to get these hands off of me. Even if I didn’t understand half the words that came out of his mouth.  
“Promise not to run off again?”

I nodded.

The boy gave a nod of confirmation to the two guys holding me and they reluctantly let go of me. Everyone was still on edge for me to bolt it seemed. I rubbed my sore arm, where a greenish bruise was starting to form, very conscious of the many boys staring straight at me. The blonde one seemed to notice this though, “Alright, clear off ya shanks!” he called to the group, but no one moved.

“Shuck off!” Bellowed a tall blonde boy who stormed through the crowd, the boys parting like fish either side of him. He was definitely in charge. The dark-skinned guy from before stood behind him, his face in a stony expression.

I watched the mob all disperse with mutters, still casting their eyes on me as they walked. The Gally boy didn’t move, staying there with a scowl etched on his face, his eyes glued to my back, untrusting. 

“Why can’t I remember?” I asked, my voice seemingly having deserted me finally – reduced to a throaty whisper. “What is this?”

“Your name’ll come back to ya in a few days.” The leader-guy said, “That’s the one thing they let us keep.”

“Who the hell is ‘they’?”

“We’ll explain everything to ya, okay? We just need to sort all the klunk out first.” The dark-skinned guy – who I guess was Alby – spoke up.

I didn’t know what klunk was, but it seemed important and the sudden urge to run I had initially was gone. Gally remained silent but shifted uncomfortably behind me, reminding me of his presence here.

I didn’t get a chance to reply before the Gally-guy cut in as he rubbed his jaw in pain.

“What about what she did?”

“We’ll deal with that later.” Newt brushed him off,

“But-”

“Shift it Gally.” Ordered the boss. “And make it known to the other shanks, anyone touches her they’ll be sleeping the night in the maze. Banished. No questions.” His voice was gravely serious, so much so that it eased the squirming pit in my stomach, even if just a little and even if I didn't have a clue what he was threatening.

The Gally guy scowled but didn’t say anything else, turning around and striding away. I watched the angry boy’s back retreat before turning back to the only two still staring at me.  
“Now,” Newt said looking me up and down, “What we gonna do with ya?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so this is my very first chapter ever on AO3 and I'm really excited to start posting more and more of Marie's story! If you did like it please let me know as I'm still getting to grips with how the whole site works. I hope you enjoyed it!


	2. Breathing

“And this is the homestead, where we sleep and all that klunk,” Newt said, gesturing at a rickety wooden building that looked like it was about to fall off its own hinges.

In fact, the whole place looked like a makeshift village, a large courtyard covered mostly by lush green grass with a forest at one end and a group of buildings, identical to the ‘homestead’. But what daunted me was the gigantic grey wall of stone wrapping around the place like a snake coiled around its prey. If it weren’t for the four gaps spread at even points I might have felt too entrapped to cope with.

Still, everything needed for survival appeared to be contained within this space. I had already seen the showers and kitchens. But, I still had no idea what this place was, apart from it being called ‘The Glade’ and the very prominent fact that there was no other girl insight. On top of that, everywhere I went with Newt (the only person who I felt even the slightest bit safe near) I was getting looks that made me feel as far from comfortable as I could possibly get… and yet… no one had told me what I was even doing here! Or why the hell I couldn’t remember a single bloody thing!

“You still haven’t explained to me what the hell is going on.” I said, eyes wandering around the place, “Why can’t I remember anything? What is actually happening here?!”

I sighed, annoyed with the lack of explanation in this place. I couldn’t even concentrate on what the boy was saying, because, even though the majority of the crowd had gone back to whatever they had been doing before my sudden arrival – gardening, woodwork, cleaning – all of them took the opportunity to gawk at me as we walked past. I was constantly aware of how their uncomfortable stares followed my back as we walked. So much so that I couldn’t stop glancing warily back over my shoulder.

“Calm down Shank, no-one’s gonna touch ya, okay?” Newt seemed to twig as I looked behind me for the dozenth time, expecting another Gally to make a grab at me again.

I just nodded in response. Nick – who I was right in thinking was in charge of the place – had said a similar thing when I met him properly. He seemed stern, but the fact that he had such a good handle on things made me feel a little better. He seemed a lot friendlier than his second in command – Alby I think his name was – anyway.

“I’m gonna show you up to the outpost now, good that?” Newt brought my attention back to the crazy world I had fallen into.

“Okay.” I replied, trying to keep my breathing steady, “Anything to get away from them.”

I not so subtly indicated over my shoulder at the group of people that had gathered with pointed whispers and stares. Newt noticed, and with clearing his throat with a stern look, they disbanded, glancing at me as they walked away.

“C’mon.”

I turned away from the boys and followed Newt to a large, sturdy-looking wooden structure that reached higher into the sky than any other building I had seen in this place. It was a large tree, branches and leaves replaced by about four rickety platforms at different heights, ladders strewn about leading up from one to another. I couldn’t help watching Newt’s footsteps as he moved towards the ladder, not missing his slight limp as he walked.

For a second I contemplated asking him about it, but something inside warned me it wasn’t a good idea, despite the complete lack of information I had on this place I felt like it would be prying into his personal life, which wasn’t important right now.

What was important was why the hell I was here and what actually was going on. Both things still yet to be answered. The absence in my head wasn’t just annoying, it was bloody terrifying. Looking around I tried to test myself, to see if I could link any of the things around me to stories in my head... but as I stared up at the shoal of boys I drew a blank. Everyone here wore similar clothing, worn and scruffy with neutral colours – they looked like they’d been here for a long time, the idea formed dread in the pit of my stomach. Was I now stuck here forever?

I looked down at my own apparel, some sort of brownish top with short sleeves and dark trousers, slightly scuffed from my little roll on the ground earlier. But they were still cleaner than what everyone else was wearing - I had only just got here though so that made sense. I just hoped we didn’t only get one set of clothes each, I had a feeling there would be rips and tears in the material pretty quickly from the state of the others.

Quickly realising how Newt was up the first ladder already, I started to climb after him, feeling the structure creak and groan slightly under my weight. If I was heavy for this thing, how the hell did any of the guys get up here? I tried to imagine the huge guy from earlier – Gally – climbing up the rickety structure, but it just ended with the whole thing collapsing on top of him. Which was a funnier image than it should have been.

Newt opened the hatch and disappeared above me, so I quickly followed, pulling my body through the hole and onto some sort of wooden platform. Cold air immediately hit me in the face as I stood up and joined Newt at the wooden railings keeping us from walking straight off. I let my eyes flutter closed, a swift gust of wind coolly stroking against my cheek and I let out a deep sigh. Something about the diminished size of everything below me stopped my chest thudding quite so erratically.

For the first time since I arrived here, I felt as if I could breathe. Perhaps it was being above everything, seeing it all in perspective at last. Boundless green stretched beneath my feet and from here I could see everything, including the vast stone wall that stretched above us.

“You good Shank?” Newt cut straight through my thoughts, bringing me back to the present.

“Yeah,” I said honestly, sighing deeply, “I think I am.”

“I know it’s a lot to take in She-Bean, but as I said, this is what we call the Glade and we call ourselves Gladers – it kinda gives us something to hold on to, an identity I s’pose; creates a family unlike you could bloody believe.”

For some reason, that fact bought me little relief. It appeared they had an order of some various form here, and that made me feel at least a little safer.

“We split it into four sections,” He continued, “The deadheads are over there, near the forest,” He points to a large clump of trees to the side, “And then there’s the homestead, which you’ve already seen. Over there the gardens and there, paddocks.”

“What about the cage thing I came up in?”

“Ah yeah, the Box is right in the centre.” He didn’t need to point that one out.

A small group of boys seemed to be unloaded the stacks of crates and boxes I’d been sent up with, taking them to various different places around ‘The Glade’. It felt kind of nice, being able to observe them from up here, without being gawked at so badly.

“It comes up once a week with all the klunk we need and once a month, we get a newbie, a greenie… and this month that’s you.”

“What do you mean sent up? By whom?”

“We don’t know, and that’s the thing, none of us knows anything. So, we just call ‘em the Creators.”

“But there has to be some reason? Is it like a prison or something? Are we all criminals?”

My mind flew with thoughts of what any of the people here could have done to warrant such a punishment. What could I have done that’s so awful I’ve been trapped here?

“Slim yourself shank, we’ve all been there.” Newt brings me back, “But when ya think it about it, it doesn’t mean klunk really when no one can remember.”

“And there are no other girls at all?” I ask quietly, already knowing the answer.

Newt just shook his head, “You’re our very first.” His words brought back the pit in my stomach, and he seemed to notice, “But you might not be the last. We might only get girl shanks from now on.”

“I’m not counting on it.” I replied, pushing away from the wooden beams,

“I would offer my congratulations, but I doubt you buggin’ want it right now.”

Suddenly the memory of the letters on the boxes pop into my head,

“What about the words, WCKD? They were on the boxes, what do they mean? And the big stone wall, is it like a trap?” My eyes were drawn back to the very large gap between the stone walls, “What’s out there?”

“Now Greenie,” he started, suddenly becoming more serious, “We only got a couple of rules here alright? Firstly, you gotta do your bit – ain’t no one slacking off here if we wanna survive." I nodded, not sure where this was leading, “Second, never harm another Glader.”

“I guess I already broke that one,” I mumbled, even though I couldn’t bring myself to regret the satisfying swing.

Newt chuckled a little, before continuing, “And third, you must never – and I mean never – go beyond those walls.”

“Why?” I turned back to the gigantic grey slabs of rock, “What’s out there?”

“You don’t need to know for now.” He cut me off, “You’ll have more explained to ya through the week. Just accept it and it’ll be better in the morning.”

I didn’t say anything else, even if I wanted to. The surprising seriousness of Newt’s voice made me feel as if this wasn’t up for discussion - even if I didn't believe him that things would get any better. He wasn’t telling me anymore, and that was that.

I didn’t want to push it, because until I knew exactly what was going on here, I wasn’t about to try and turn myself out of his favour. He seemed to have some authority around here and that made me feel a little bit more reassured that no one would try anything whilst he was with me.

By the position of the sun, it appeared to be late afternoon, but in the dappled light the whole place actually looked more beautiful than terrifying. I guess maybe it was because I was above it all now, but my head felt a little bit clearer – despite the lack of memories stored inside.

“Can anyone come up here?” I asked, studying the wooden beams.

“Normally it’s only the green beans on their first day,” Newt admitted. “And we come up here to count, make sure the Runner’s get in on time.”

I didn’t know what Runners were, but I just added it to the ever-growing list of questions in my mind. Truthfully, I didn’t say it, but the thought that this was a onetime thing upset me. Up here was the only place so far that I didn’t constantly feel like a nervous wreck.

“First day,” I repeated, trying to calm my fluttering stomach.

It was hard to imagine that I would be here tomorrow, or the next day, or even as long as some of these boys.

“Newt?” I asked, realising the boy’s eyes hadn’t left me once this entire time, “How long have you been here?”

“Two years nearly.”

Two years. Two whole bloody years.

“And there’s no way out?”

“Maybe one-day Greenie,” He sighs, but he doesn’t elaborate any further annoyingly. Instead, he pushed off of the railings, that childish smile growing back on his face, “Anyway, we should be getting ready for the party.”

“Party?”

He just grinned at me.


	3. Thinking

“There.”

With a final tug, my hammock was up and hanging. I couldn’t help but give a small smile when I looked up at Newt and he was grinning at me. The haphazard material was tied between two posts on the outer side of the Homestead. Newt said I’d be more comfortable here than in between the rest of the boys and I couldn’t help but agree.

Apparently, most of the guys slept outside anyway in sleeping bags - and I could see why. The hammock didn’t exactly look like the most comfortable sleeping place in the world, in fact, it looked like it would fall to the ground the second I sat on it. Newt assured me otherwise, but I wasn’t entirely sure I believed him.

Newt was a kind person, I’d decided that much already, but it was strange. There were moments when we’d lapsed into silence that a sort of darkness seemed to pass over his eyes and his face would fall flat like he was caught in some sort of shadowy haze. He’d break out of it the minute I opened my mouth again, but it still concerned me.

It happened again now when we’d finished the job. I turned back to give one look at the pale brown flop of material and when I glanced back up at the blond-haired boy his eyes had dropped a look of - almost sadness – passing over his face, like a cloud moving to cover up the sun.

But like every cloud, it moved on, this time when Newt noticed something over my shoulder.

“Come on,” He said, “I’ll introduce you to those shanks…” He pointed to two people that just appeared right on the other side of the field, right out of the hole in the wall.

My eyes widened as they slowed to a walk, remembering what Newt had said about going out there. I looked to Newt, but he didn’t seem at all concerned, already making his way towards them. I hurried after him. For a guy with a limp he sure did move at a pace.

“Oi Minho!” Newt called out, gaining the attention of the Asian skinned boy who jogged over to us. Stopping abruptly and running a hand through his glossy black hair as he saw us, mouth dropping open like a fish,

“Bloody hell…” He muttered, looking me up and down before meeting my eyes. “You’re a girl.”

“No shit,” I replied, unable to stop a small smile cracking on my face at the sight of his expression. Dumbfounded is the word I’d used to describe it. I didn’t mind though; it was better than gross and ogling. He smirked at my response, nodding in appreciation.  
“Minho, right?” I said, glancing back at Newt for certification.

“Nice to meet ya Greenie,” Minho replied, holding out his hand for me to shake.

Cautiously I reached up and met his tanned hand with my own pale one. I shook it firmly, but my eyes drifted back over to where the boy had appeared from.

“I thought we couldn’t get out there?” I said, gesturing at the daunting gap in the rocks behind him. 

“Ah, well I’m just special,” Minho replied, and I could practically hear the grin in his voice as he spoke, and Newt’s eye roll as he did.

Slowly a few things started to slot into place in my head, little titbits of information that had been let slip, probably by accident.

“You’re a Runner,” I said quietly, eyes still fixated on the exit.

Neither of them said anything in return, confusion crossing Newt’s face. He knew he hadn’t explained that far yet. 

“You mentioned the tower is for watching the Runner’s come in,” I said quietly, eyes widening in realisation “There’s a way out of here.”

I pushed past both of them, stumbling towards the nearest opening in the wall. Why wouldn’t they tell me there was a way out? Were they trying to keep my trapped here with them?

“Greenie wait!” Newt was immediately in front of me again, holding both hands in front of him, blocking my path, “It’s not what you think.”

“What d’you mean?” I said, “There’s a way out!”

I pushed past again, walking faster now, Newt and Minho quickly following me as I got closer. The dark ivy crept up the concrete stone walls filling me with a strange sense of dread, but I was also intrigued by it like it was beckoning me closer.

“That’s no escape,” Came Minho’s voice from behind her, “Believe me Greenie.”

“You went out there!”

“Exactly!” Newt said, eyes flickering between my ready-to-bolt frame and the wall worriedly, “It’s dangerous out there and Minho knows what he’s doing… most of the time.”

“Hey! Shank!”

“Why is it dangerous?” I asked darkly, watching as the two exchanged a reluctant look, remaining silent. “Tell me!” I yelled, gaining the attention of the other people within hearing distance.

Newt sighed with resignation, rubbing between his brows before looking back up to me slowly.

“It’s a maze.”

There was silence for a moment as his words washed over me, alongside a wave of confusion. 

“… A what?”

“A maze,” Minho repeated, his voice calmer now seeing that the flickering spark of violence in my muscles had deteriorated again. “Out there is a giant, shucking maze. And if you get lost in it, you ain’t never finding a way out.”

“That’s we have Minho, and the Runners okay?” Newt continued, “They map it, work out its routes to try and find a way out safely… just come away from the doors Greenie… please." The actual sincerity of his voice got to me. there was an actual sense of pleading in his eyes and I hated that I found him so trustworthy already. For all I knew they could be lying their arses off to me right now.

But there it was again, that grave look in his large brown eyes that made me stop and think twice.

A maze…

Slowly I nodded and the two of them seemed to physically relax, their shoulders dropping as they both let out the breath they’d been holding in. I took a few steps away from the wall before looking back at it again, the intrigues niggling in my stomach almost completely extinguished now, instead replaced by trepidation.

I put my head in my hands, rubbing my eyes as if when I opened them again I would find this had all been some kind of horrific nightmare.

They were stinging and I could feel the build-up of warm water in the corners, so I didn’t look back up. I didn’t want them to see my cry. I wouldn’t let them see me cry. “You alright Shank?” Minho asked softly, I could feel him coming closer to me, to which I just stumbled back. I didn’t like the feel of someone being that close.

I sucked them water back in, dropping my hands and sucking in a deep breath before straightening myself back up.

“Greenie?”

“I’m fine.” I snapped, probably too harshly, but at that moment I didn’t care.

“You sure?” Newt said hesitantly, “You look like you’re about to bloody keel over,”

“I said I’m fine.” I repeated through gritted teeth, “I just… I just need a minute.”

“Okay,” Nodded Newt, reaching an arm out, “Just slim yourself yeah? Nice and easy…”

“Preferably in silence.” I cut him off, sending a small glare his way.

My mind was reeling, and his confusing muddle of language was not helping in the slightest. Minho snorted at my comment, clearly amused with the whole situation unlike I was. 

A maze… I was stuck in the middle of a maze with walls of giant stone reaching higher than the eye can see. From the look of the walls, I could see the whole thing must be impossibly huge, never-ending maybe. And if these guys had been looking for a way out the entire time they’ve been here… two years, Newt said… I was really and truly stuck here.

A large growl interrupted my internal freak-out and it took me a second to realise it came from my stomach, I glanced down and then back up to the boys realising Newt was right, I was feeling a little light-headed. Even if that was the very lowest on my list of concerns, it was the one with the most immediate solution.

“Can I get something to eat?”

Both boys stared at me incredulously, before Minho started to cackle at my odd question. Newt regarded me thoughtfully and very much confused, before nodding,

“Good that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this one's a bit short but I felt it important to introduce Minho early on in the story as he certainly becomes an important person to our protagonist and who doesn't love a bit of the sass queen? Next chapter we get our second taste of our favourite builder mixed in with our Marie and moonshine... what could go wrong? Enjoy!


	4. Fighting

The night engulfed the Glade quickly, welcoming a new kind of light, a warm orange glow of an enormous bonfire, its flames flickering into the sky. The boys seemed to dance around it, all with massive grins on their face.

There were other flames lit as well, puffing hazy smoke into the air around us. They provided the only light. There were these things they had built too, like scarecrows almost - made of sacks and wood, stuck around the place like ghosts.

I didn’t understand how the hell they were celebrating being stuck here, I could barely breathe thinking about being caught inside these four walls forever.

No. It wouldn’t be forever. There’s no way. Maybe those people could find a way out, people like Minho… runners. Maybe I could help them? Despite the dread I felt looking up at those stone walls there was still a small spark of curiosity there, a sense of wondering about what this ‘maze’ was actually like. How big was it? How far did it go? Thinking just lead to more questions.

And then there was the prolonged emptiness in my head, a crucial piece of me missing, the one thing they said we were allowed to keep – yet it still wasn’t back. Without my name, it felt like I had no identity at all, a deep chasm of emptiness hanging heavy in my heart. That considered and the fact that everywhere I went stares were glued to every inch of my body, I didn’t feel very inclined to join their so-called party.

I sat on a sideways log, hunched over my knees watching the dancing ribbons of fire strike through the night, it was beautiful but like everything here, it didn’t bring me any comfort. My eyes shifted to a large circle drawn in the ground, quite a distance away from me, but close enough that obscuring shadows were cast on it through the warm orange glow. Inside two boys tussled around with each other, jeered on by a large crowd around them.

I fixated on Gally’s muscled frame as he easily took down boy after boy, my thumbs twitching in my lap and my knee jumping up and down. I tried to convince myself that it was because I had been sitting here for so long. As he sent another boy flying onto the floor, he broke into a grin before offering him a hand up. Our eyes met for what felt like a single second, and his face fixed back into a scowl before turning back to his peers, the mark still visible from where I hit him earlier. I didn’t regret it in the slightest bit though.

Someone joined me, and I instantly knew it was Newt. No one apart from him and Minho had voluntarily talked to me yet, even then I’m sure I convinced Minho I was some kind of freak after my breakdown.

None of the other ‘Gladers’ had approached yet, which I was half relieved about, but also found kind of annoying. They were all very happy staring and leering at me wherever I went, but actually talking to me… no.

Still, that might have been because Newt was always close, flicking glances over to where I was sat – just to be sure I was okay. It was probably because they didn't repeat of what happened earlier, and I didn't either after having seen what 'The Slammer' actually was. A pit in the ground sounds like a worse place to spend the night than a hammock. I appreciated Newt's guidance – though I’m sure I’d have no issue handling myself. I glanced down at my arms, they felt quite strong, I guess. It was still nice to know at least one person here had my back though.

When we had finally headed back from the kitchen after scoffing down a few chunks of bread (I had no idea how hungry I actually was) a horrible noise had broken through the Glade. A grinding sound so loud that the reverberations cause the trees to shake slightly.

I had almost lost it when the openings in the walls surrounding this place ground shut with an almighty thud, falling embarrassingly on my butt when the noise started. The boys who could see me, including Newt seemed to laugh as I stared wide-eyed and horrified at the only exit to this place closing completely.

Now I felt more trapped than ever.

He told me they’d open again in the morning, then close again in the evening every day – but it still freaked me out. For all the logic in my brain, I couldn’t work out how massive slabs of rock could move like that _and_ at the same time.

As Newt took a seat beside me, he sent me a soft smile which I tried to return. He had been very kind to me after all, in a weird non-question-answering way.

“You all right Greenie?” He asked quietly, to which I didn’t have a reply. He seemed to sense how it was because he held out a weirdly shaped jar towards me. “Drink up.”

I took the glass thing from him and cast a look of doubt at the brown liquid. Hesitantly raising it to my lips, I took a gentle sip, immediately coughing aloud as the bitter taste struck through my mouth. Coughing I turned to Newt with a look on my face that I can only imagine was horror.

“What is that?” I choked, shaking my head as if it will remove the taste.

“Moonshine,” Newt replied, “Gally’s creation.”

“That’ll be why it’s mank then.” I laughed, swirling around the strange liquid. “Is this why everyone’s acting like loons?”

I gestured to the bunch of boys stumbling over each other around the place. Some practically knocked out against trees, others falling over their own feet and laughing far too loudly for their own good.

“It helps you to relax, have a good time.” He said, with an almost knowing smile.

I took another slurp down my throat without a second thought, and this time it didn’t taste quite so bad. It still burned my throat raw and left me spluttering, but I felt the buzz move through my body as I did. Newt shook his head at me as if I were mad, but I just grinned back.

Getting to my feet I didn’t look back at Newt, striding straight for the circle drawn in the ground. Gally was having far too much fun for me to cope with after how he treated me earlier. This would get people talking, maybe about me instead of to me, but talking was better than silence in any case.

“Who’s next?” He called, smirking at all of the boys surrounding him.

“I’ll have a go.”

No one, and I mean no one, expected me to pipe up, arms folded across my chest. Everyone turned to me, with a blinding array of facial expressions. It was quite funny really.

“Not a chance girlie,” Gally dismissed me with a flick of his head.

“Why not?” I pursued, trying to figure out how best to wind him up enough to let me do this. “It’s not like I can’t handle myself,”

I implied to the bruise forming on his jawline that I knew he was still fuming at, “Or are you too scared to fight me?”

There was silence in the camp, no one moved or said a word. So that was how to wind this guy up then, insult his precious pride. It was good to know.

“Get in the ring.” He growled.

There was a round of applause as I stepped into the circle, drawn in the ground. I glanced over at Newt who looked slightly worried standing beside Nick, but the leader looked less so, more entertained if anything. He smiled with a simple nod of his head as if to say _go on then_.

I needed to do this and do it right, otherwise, I was in for hell here. I knew where some of these boys’ minds were at, and I already knew their perceptions of me. I wasn’t going to let them stay like that. Tonight was as good as any night to show them exactly who I was, even if I didn’t know it yet.

It was strange though, I could kind of tell I was good at this stuff without actually having done it before. It was like when I was watching my muscles were twitching with anxiety to join in and my mind was picking out the weak spots of each fighter. And I’d been observing Gally for a long time now.

“Here’s how this is gonna work.” Gally said, “Three rounds, three chances to get me outta the ring. You do it once, and you win.”

“Fair enough,” I sighed, “I am only a beginner after all. But what do I win?”

“What?”

“What do I get, for beating you?”

“Well,” He seemed confused, “What do you want?”

“I want to be able to go up there,” I pointed to the watchtower, “Whenever I want. Alone.”

He looked to Nick, as did every Glader, who seemed to consider it with an amused look on his face, before nodding. I grinned at his response, now I had to win.

Gally didn’t seem to want to make a request, probably because he had everything he wanted here, including his own God Complex, but that didn’t bother me so much. I just had to show these boys I wasn’t going to fall apart any time soon, otherwise, I’d never get back up again.

Gally lunged without warning, going straight for my shoulders like he usually did. I didn’t move quick enough and was shoved back with such a great force I went flying backwards and rolling out the ring straight away, the boys gathered parting like shoals of fish in my path. He smirked down at me as I got back to my feet, wiping the dust off my trousers. I had a feeling these were the only clothes I was going to have for a while.

I was ready the second time, he tried the same thing and I quickly dodged, rolling out of his way. He skidded to a halt just at the edge of the circle. The was a chorus of calls from around the circle as I got up quickly again, knees bent. I quickly brushed the sand away from my eyes, coughing out a little too.

“Come on Girlie,” He said, “You gotta have more in you than that,”

“Don’t call me Girlie,” I replied harshly, hating the way the word sounded in my mouth,

“Alright, Greenie then.” He shrugged, “Doesn’t matter to me.”

“Yeah? Well, it matters to me.”

And with that, I charged at him. This time, he was the one taken by surprise, clearly not expecting my boldness, or stupidity, whatever you liked to call it. He caught me quickly, throwing him around his side, and breath left my body as I crashed into the ground once more. He moved above me, but I caught the moment, grabbing his ankle when he went to take a step. One disadvantage to his muscular build, was when it started going down, there was no stopping it. He crashed into the sand with a thud as I scrambled to my feet. He wasn’t out the circle yet.

I shuffled backwards as he stood up once more, anger now gleaming in his eyes. He could hear his fellow Gladers talk as they watched him fall, his eyes zeroing in on me. I smirked as I went again, and I swear he did too, just for a moment. I tackled at the waist, and as expected he wrapped his arms around me, shoving me around pretty much like nothing. But when we approached the end of the circle, I gave away my weight to the right, and he became unbalanced, toppling over and falling right outside the line.

There was a moment of silence as everybody took in the scene. I just smirked, brushing my hands together. Gally pushed himself off the ground and for a second, I thought he was about to charge right in and knock my lights out. But then he just gave a nod, even if he was clearly furious.

“Fair dues Greenie,” He said, “It’s all yours.”

For the first time since arriving, I smiled. An actual real smile and Newt seemed to catch sight of it and share it with me as everyone dispersed. He patted me on the back as he led me away from the ring,

“That was good Greenie… shucking crazy, but good."

“What job does Gally do?” I asked, glancing back over at the boy.

Newt had been talking about everyone doing their part earlier, one of the so-called ‘three rules’ if I remembered right. Assumedly that many people each had to have different roles, for the sort of society they created to work.

“He’s the keeper of the builders. Good with their hands, but not a lot going on upstairs.” Newt pointed to the group Gally was currently talking to and I let out a small chuckle,

I smiled thoughtfully. He kinda looked like a builder with his broad shoulders and muscular build. The others around him looked similar in stance, though I had to admit none were quite as impressive.

“What about everyone else?”

“Well, you got Winston, who’s Keeper of slicers.”

Newt pointed out a gangly boy with tanned skin and dark hair, “And our Medjack, Clint.” Who was currently downing a large amount of Gally’s moonshine, with no alter to his facial expression. “Spends most of his time bandaging up the slicers - best he can anyway.”

He pointed over to by the trees where Minho was talking with a group of guys, including the guy who I first saw him with momentarily before he came to see us. “And then you got the Runners.”  
They were the latest group of people who couldn’t seem to stop staring at me, I supposed it was because they weren’t around for my arrival, not that it made me feel any better about their eyes fixating on me every so often. Newt seemed to pick up on this, placing a secure hand on my shoulder,

“Any of them bothering ya?”

“I’m alright,” I shook him off, “Just feel a bit like the latest freak show.”

“Yeah well, none of us can bloody remember seeing a girl-shank before.” He said, glancing around the fire at his fellow Gladers, “They’ll get used to it in a few days.” He paused for a second, looking at me with sincere and truthful eyes, “Just, tell me if any of these Shuckfaces make you uncomfortable yeah? I’ll get Nick to lock ‘em up in the Slammer for ya.”

Despite everything going on, I found myself genuinely smiling back at him, sincerely grateful for his support. It was kind of nice to feel like I had someone on my side if I needed it.

“Good that?” I replied hesitantly, hoping I’d used the words right.

He grinned back at me brightly, “See? You’re already gettin’ it.”

I nodded back at him, before looking back at the space around me, trying to change the way I had looked at it earlier. Newt was right, they were kind of like a big, very unconventional family and they seemed to be making the best of whatever they had, finding joy in the little things around them- with the help of that disgusting drink. Maybe I should go and find myself some more…


	5. Belonging?

It was the wild shaking of the hammock that wrenched me from my peaceful sleep the next morning. Blurrily, I pried my eyes open, momentarily forgetting about my current location or situation. 

Wincing at the bright morning light silhouetting the boy I became aware of what was making it so hard to open my eyes properly. I let out a groan, rolling over, my head pounding in my head like the drums were last night.

“Go away.” I moaned, turning my back to him in a weird, heavy, daze.

“Guess you’re not into mornings then?” He chuckled, far too cheerfully. “Come on She-bean, it’s time to get up.”

Slowly and reluctantly I rolled out of my hammock – and straight onto the wooden floor.

“Ow!”

My head rung in circles as it caught up with my body. Newt chuckled and I sent him a glare that could kill a man stone dead. “Shut up.”

It was only when he offered me a hand off the floor and I was pulled back to my feet that I caught sight of the Glade again. It was pretty beautiful in the pale morning light, the sun peeping over the giant stone walls and casting a mosaic of shadows across the green grass.

But then it all came flooding back. The box, the boys… the maze.

My breath started getting shorter automatically, I couldn’t help it. It was like being hit full force by a hurricane, the same sense of dread rushing over me as when I was in the box. Hurtling up and up and up… to prison with no way out… there was no way out…

I was still here.

It wasn’t some incredulous nightmare, some terrifying dream. This was all real. I couldn’t wake up from this. Everything that happened yesterday had actually happened.

It really was just my First Day.

Newt must’ve sensed that I froze, because he was immediately in front of my face again, blocking off the view. He reached his hands out, tentatively placing them on my shoulders, almost as if he was expecting me to wrench myself away – or punch him in the face. But it was alright, it felt grounding. 

“Hey Greenie,” He said quietly, “You good? We can take some time if-”

“No,” I snapped back, pushing everything I felt into the bottom of my mind, “No, I’m good… just the drink catching up with me.”

I knew he could see straight through my hideous lie, but he didn’t push it, just nodding and taking a step back from me again. “Now, ya with me today in the gardens… but first breakfast.”

***

I tried my best not to groan as I bent down to weed the next patch. I had barely slept a wink in the hammock last night, my mind racing too much to settle down. As well as that, sleeping in a hammock was uncomfortable to say the least, but I didn’t want to seem ungrateful to Newt or any of the others, so I just got on with my job for today. I was trialling working as a ‘track-hoe’ with Newt, under Zart who was apparently keeper. I’d barely seen the boy, but he was very awkward and smelt of stale yoghurt, so I didn’t mind that he wasn’t around much.

Actually, it was quite nice out in the sun, relaxing even. I liked the gardens, they seemed to represent life when everything else here showed death. This morning I was placed on planting new seeds as the veggies were harvested, which mostly meant being on my knees, which were now soaked with mud. Now I was weeding, and at least I got to stay on my feet, crouching rather than kneeling.

"How ya doin' Greenie?"

"Good, I think," I replied to Newt as I tugged out a large weed, watching with satisfaction as it came away before throwing it into the bucket. "It's nice out here."

"Any luck with that name of yours yet?"

"Nah," I shook my head, trying to not sound too upset, "But there's plenty of time. Maybe I should've let Gally hit me harder."

Newt chuckles, wiping his face with the back of a gloved hand leaving a trail of brown mud on his cheek. I laughed, "You've got something..." and gestured to his face as he laughed louder, wiping it off this time with the inside of his arm.

"So, you're on cooking with Frypan tomorrow, then slicing with Winston and then building with Gally..."

He trailed off, looking over to where the builders were fast at work sawing and hammering vague bits of wood. The job didn't look too difficult, except for one thing. Gally was their Keeper. He hadn't said another word to me, but I could feel the occasional glare on my back after our little show last night. I had no doubt his sexist arse was going to make my day a living hell when he had the chance. This morning at breakfast (where I had met – and liked – Frypan) the moment I sat down at the table Gally stood up and was gone. 

Minho made a joke that everyone laughed at, directing the attention away from Gally's reaction to my presence, but it was still there in the back of my mind. I decided immediately after yesterday I liked Minho and his wicked grins, but I hardly saw him - seeing as he was a Runner.

I just had to stick with Newt for company, which as far as I knew at the moment, wasn't a bad thing at all. It also helped that he was kind of in charge here, after Nick and Alby, I think. It meant when I was with him people stared a little less, especially since he kept calling them out on it.

He told me that it was normal to look at any new Greenie, but we both knew he was just trying to make me feel better. Anyway, some of them weren't actually staring at me, their eyes never wavered from different parts of my body. That alone was enough to make me sick.

I knew deep down that most of them probably didn’t even realise what they were doing, or how it made me feel. I mean they couldn’t remember the last time they saw a girl. I don’t know. It was just frustrating and distracting. 

"I'm not worried about Gally," I said, turning back to my work, suddenly realising I'd been staring myself for a little too long.

"I know you're not." Newt replied, "It's not him I'm worried about. Some of the other builders-"

"Oh right," I caught his drift, "Don't worry Newt. I can handle myself just fine."

"You got that right!" One of the other boys called out, making no attempt to hide his eavesdropping.

I think his name was Max, but I wasn't sure. There were around twenty guys here and I didn't even know my own name yet. But, since my little show yesterday no one has dared called me Girlie again yet, at least not to my face. I let out a small laugh at this comment, reminding myself that they weren’t the enemy here – they were just like me.

***

It was during lunch that I was surprised by Alby. He came up to me and told me to finish my food quick because he had to show me the rest of the Glade. I saw animals, and paddocks and the Slammer as well. I finally understood what that Gally meant when he said to throw me in there. Apparently, it was also sometimes called the Pit – which felt more appropriate as that was exactly what it was. Three large pits in the ground, covered by shelters made of sticks. The doors were bars, crossed over in squares so the whole thing felt like a real jail. It did not look like a comfortable place to spend the night, that was for sure.

Then Alby went over the three rules again for me, not quite as friendly as Newt, and explained a bit more about the way the whole place worked. The idea of a Gathering to decide my role here was a bit daunting, but fair I guessed. By the time we were walking back to the gardens, the information alongside the after-effects of the alcohol, made my head feel close to exploding.

“What’s that?”

I pointed to the large part of the wall we were approaching. It was coated in names, all jaggedly and haphazardly carved into the stone and I recognised quite a few. Each was unique in its own way, almost as if it held a sort of personality, a kind of identity to it. I knew what they were doing when they made these marks, they were claiming back their name as there own.

I recognised Alby’s name instantly, it was big and sharp and right in the centre. Newt’s was next to it, slanted and slightly more stylish. Minho’s was practically falling apart and Gally’s was… well, it was just Gally. I didn’t really know how to describe it except like that.

Without realising what I was doing my finger reached up and traced the carvings delicately, almost as if I could feel everything put in behind the word on the wall.

“When you remember yours, you'll add it to here and you’ll really know what you’ve become a part of.”

When I remember. More like if I remember.

Just now would have been the perfect moment for it to have come back. I would have looked up to Alby, eyes alive and smiled as I said my name. Then, he would have handed me the knife from his belt and my name would have been added to the wall and it would be okay.

Only none of that happened.

I dropped my finger from the wall and turned back to see him almost looking at me expectantly – so much so I couldn’t bear it. 

My eyes flickered back to the giant stone slab, this time drawn to the names harshly crossed out with jagged lines. There were quite a few.

"What happened?" I asked quietly, trying to re-direct attention off of me.

"There were dark times," Alby said quietly, folding his arms over his chest, "People got scared."

"Are things better now?"

"We're getting there."

"I guess my arrival hasn't helped." I tried not to sound bitter, but it was hard.

"None of this was your fault, Shank." Alby surprised me by saying, "Don't let anyone tell you differently."

I couldn't think of anyone that had. But did that mean people were saying things like that behind my back? I didn't have a clue what was going on! I was just like them, wasn't I? I wanted to ask, find out what people were saying... did they not trust me?

Instead, I turned away.

“We should get back.” I said, voice completely steady, “Break’s almost over.”

I could feel Alby’s eyes following me, almost sadly as I walked away, but I didn’t look back. I think he wanted to show me this to help me feel more welcomed, but instead, it made me feel even more like I don’t belong here.

***

By the end of the day, I was in definite need of a wash. I was sweating all over from the sun, covered in mud and probably smelling as bad as Zart. 

“Um, Newt?” I asked as we cleared away for the day, “Where are the showers? Only you mentioned them yesterday and…” I gestured up and down my dirt and dust-covered skin.

“Oh, I’ll show ya.” He said, leading the way to a small building by the homestead.

I opened the door and immediately spotted a problem. It was one average size room with about seven or eight showerheads poking out of the walls, only there was nothing in between. Newt seemed to notice that I stopped in the doorway and realisation grew on his face.

“I’ll stand outside.” He said, “It’ll have to do for now, but we’ll try and get somethin’ sorted.”

“Thanks,” I replied, sincerely grateful I had Newt by my side at least.

It took me a minute before I started stripping, feeling weirdly conscious as I did, even though I knew no one was looking. The water was cold when I turned it on, but I let it run all over me, drenching from head to foot as I started scrubbing, trying to be quick. I didn’t want any impatient shanks banging on the door. I always faced away from it, just in case, instead choosing to look at the walls.

For the first time since being here, I suddenly caught an image of myself in the water, a reflection, rippling slightly in the pool around my feet. My sodden hair was almost black, making my skin look even paler. I knelt closer to the floor to look closer. My skin was quite uneven, spots scattered here and there and I already had small lines under my eyes from where I didn’t sleep. My eyes were a sort of greyish-blue colour and quite plain really. 

I was almost expecting some sort of big reveal, but I just looked like… normal. But that was great right now, I wanted to be as normal as possible so I could get accepted in this place. I’d already learned staying in the Glade was the only way to survive. Although I didn’t mention it, I’d heard the cries of whatever was behind those walls last night and was in no hurry to get any closer. Not yet anyway.


	6. Breaking

By the end of my fourth day in the Glade, I was almost done with life itself. Working in the gardens with Newt was good, no doubt, but from there it just started spiralling downhill.

Frypan was nice, and I enjoyed his company. He seemed to actually treat me as a real Glader and looked at me the way he looked at everyone else. The dark-skinned jovial boy was madness in the kitchen though, like every meal he produced was his child. It would have been funny had I not kept cutting up the vegetables wrong and him getting quite annoyed with me. 

I was considering asking Newt if I could do it as my job, I could learn all the skills over time and Frypan said he’d have me, as long as I followed his rules. It also meant I’d be away from leering eyes and the occasional wandering hand. But then came dinner time.

I was serving up for everybody, but as I went along the line of boys (making sure they each had the right portion) I had to lean over the stew slightly and eyes slowly turned away from my face again and down my top, which I tried to ignore, straightening up again.

But then as two boys walked away to eat the stew that I had spent hours helping make for them I overheard their conversation.

“The Girlie’s found her place then.” One said,

The other glanced back at me with a smirk, “She can serve me any time she likes.”

Bile rose in my throat at their connotations and I dropped the ladle back into the near-empty bowl, staring after them. Frypan heard too, and saw my reaction, quickly telling me to go and finish the washing up while he took over the last servings. There weren’t many people left in the line, none other than Gally that I recognised at all and I didn’t know if any of them heard what the other guys said over the noise they were making, but I tried to keep a straight face until I was out of the kitchen.

I didn’t even eat my portion of the food we’d made, my appetite completely disappearing. The minute I was done I was out of there, making use of my winnings and climbing to the top of the watchtower where no one would bother me.

Only when I was up there did I let the first tear fall. And then another, and then another, until there was a silent stream pouring down my face. I didn’t even really know what at, it was one comment by one boy, they couldn’t all think like that surely? I didn’t even believe myself anymore. 

It was that nickname – Girlie – as well. I couldn’t stand it for some reason, it just made me feel so foreign and unwelcome and like that was all I was. When you don’t have an identity to hold on to its kind of hard to realise you’re more than what other people call you.

I didn’t go back to my hammock until much later.

I spent my fourth day in the Blood-house with Winston, which wasn’t great either. It wasn’t so much the blood-spattered walls or the smell, it was more Winston’s unnerving look that freaked me out -and the overly violent way he killed that pig. 

I swore he was just trying to get me to wimp out of helping him like he expected I couldn’t handle it. I did fine at the job, having to try really hard never to flinch or squeal like the animals, but I was not prepared to work in their again.

What’s more, I had blood all over my clothes and skin by the end and was in definite need of another shower. I spotted Newt easily, and I felt bad for having to ask him to wait outside, but he saw the need for it.

I thanked him numerous times, trying to wash quickly so he didn’t have to be standing there any longer than necessary. I had to remember to go and talk to Gally about getting a cubicle built or something, which also meant I had to try and be civil when I did talk to him.

I switched the water off when I was fully clean of scarlet stains and feeling a bit more human again. But when I turned around, there was something vital missing.

My clothes were gone.

I’d left them by the door. I know I had. They were right there.

“Newt?” I called out, approaching the door, “Newt? Are you there?”

There was no reply. I banged on the door once more,

“Newt!”

Nothing. It suddenly all dawned on me.

He’d gone and while he hadn’t been here someone had come in and… I almost gagged, gripping the wall tightly. Someone had… 

I fell against the door, using my weight to keep it shut, stop it opening. The door luckily opened into the room, so could stop anyone coming in. But I was naked, and I couldn’t go out of the room. Where the shucking hell was Newt!? How the hell could he leave me!?

For the second time in two days, I started crying, but these tears were different. They burnt my skin as they trailed slowly down my face, holding the anger about to explode inside me.

I couldn’t do anything except sit there and wait, feeling ashamed and embarrassed, and so shucking pathetic! I leant my face against the wooden door, sitting, waiting, calling out for someone… anyone at this point to walk by.

***

Gally was in dire need of a shower. It was his thinking time - when he could get in there alone anyway. Something about the rushing water helped him clear his head, and right now, it needed clearing from that shucking girl.

His builders still weren’t letting up about the whole Bonfire thing, and he had given up telling them that he had let her win, shutting them up with glares that could kill a lamb stone-dead. He should never have bloody fought her. He didn’t know what he was thinking.

She just had to turn up and change everything, didn’t she? He wanted to truly hate her, but he knew deep down it wasn’t her fault, so he found it hard to. But it was definitely going to make things much more difficult now for him and the others.

He understood how they were feeling, the first person of the opposite sex any of them can remember seeing. But that still didn’t excuse how some of them were talking about her. It was very few, only a handful of complete Slintheads… but he couldn’t ignore the look on her face when she heard what they said in the kitchen.

His head perked up at the sound of a voice, calling out.

It belonged to the girl. He approached; it was coming from the showers. He tried to open the door, but it didn’t budge.

“Greenie? Is that you?” He asked, remembering how much she honestly seemed to hate being called Girlie.

There was a groan from just on the other side of the door,

“Why did it have to be you?”

“Greenie what’s wrong?” He asked, slightly annoyed, “Is the door stuck?”

He pushed it again harder, but it was like another force was trying to push it shut at the same time.

“Stop trying to shucking open it!” She yelled from the other side suddenly.

He stopped, letting it fully close again. Why the hell was she jamming the door? There was silence on the other side for a second, and Gally contemplated just walking away, but then she spoke quietly.

“Someone stole my clothes.”

Gally suddenly was without a response. She was in there... Right. He found himself surprisingly angry, his brow furrowing because that meant someone had actually gone in there… while she was…

“Stay there.” He ordered, marching off.

“Not exactly like I’m going anywhere,” She called after him and he could hear the tiredness in her voice and the pent-up frustration.

He returned as quickly as he could, spare clothes from his hammock in his hand.

“Greenie I’m back.” He said through the door.

No response.

“Look I’ve got these,” He said, “They’re mine, but they’ll have to do so, just, open the door a little alright? I won’t look.”

He heard her stand up and then the door creaked open a slit, just enough for him to hand the clothes through without seeing the girl. He turned away anyway, just to be sure. The door closed again abruptly.

He could just walk away now, he'd done what he needed to, to help her out. He was free to carry on. But something made him wait outside as she changed. He convinced himself it was because he couldn’t actually get a shower with her still in there.

The door opened suddenly revealing her. She stood, in clothes that were massively too big for her, his shirt reaching her knees, and the trousers dropping low down her waist. Those weren’t his, he grabbed some others from some random, smaller, Glader’s hammock His would be around her ankles. Her hair was wet and curly around her shoulders, knotted about wildly. But her face was angry… no, her face was bloody furious.

She pushed past him without so much as a thank you, storming away. Something compelled Gally to follow the girl, worried she was about to do something she’d regret later. “Greenie,” He called after her, “Greenie!”

She ignored him, marching straight for the Council hut. Gally noticed the boys looking up from around the place in confusion, eyes following the girl, but he doubted she noticed, too set on her goal. The door to the Council Hut flung open before he could stop her, cutting right through Nick, Alby, Newt and Minho in the middle of a deep discussion. They all did a double-take when they saw her and then a guilty look washed over Newt’s face, Gally wondered why.

“This is a Council Meeting,” Nick ordered, but she just looked up at him stonily,

“I don’t see any Council.”

“Out Greenie,” Alby growled, “We’ll deal with you later.”

“No.” She folded her arms, glaring at them all. Gally almost smirked at her defiance if it wasn’t over something so serious. “You’re going to listen to me.”

They all stared at her, the Glade had an extremely strict hierarchy and they thought she knew that this looked like blatant disrespect.

“I’ve been here four days and already I have already been insulted, touched in so many places I’ve lost count and now I’ve had my clothes stolen from within the showers whilst you were meant to be guarding the door.”

The accusatory glare she gave Newt was enough to kill a man stone-dead, but in all fairness, he looked distraught at himself too.

“I’ve had enough of this. It may be ‘hard’ for you, having a girl here for the first time, but try being me for once! I can’t even wash safely. I’ve done everything you’ve asked of me since I’ve arrived, even though you tell me nothing and all I’ve got in return are lude comments and underhanded looks. And I’m done with it.”

Her voice quietened as she finished and Gally noticed a hint of weakness in her eyes for the first time since she arrived, even if for only a second.

“Do something about it.” She glared at them, “Or I will.”

With that she turned around and stormed straight out of the hut, pushing past Gally in the doorway. The boys all watched her retreating form, not sure how to respond from there.

He didn’t know what she ‘would do about it’ herself, but he didn’t doubt that she would likely do something, and it would end up badly for all of them.

“She’s right you know,” Newt said quietly, “She’s being treated like klunk by some shanks.”

Gally almost scoffed, some shanks, this was the guy who’d left a naked girl unknowingly alone in a room with no lock on the door. Gally reminded himself to put that on the top of his to-do list.

“We can deal with later,” Alby said, shaking his head, “I feel bad for the girl but right now this is more important.”

His finger planted on the piece of paper they were looking at and Gally pushed down the curiosity to ask what it was. He may be a Keeper, but there was always certain stuff he almost felt he didn’t want to know – if they needed him, they’d come to him. Gally huffed, he may not like the girl at all, but something had to be done about this.

“I’ll sort it.” He said, leaving the hut and closing the door shut behind him without another word.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here we go! Chapter six is up and ready to read. You probably noticed that the POV swapped between first and third (mainly focusing on Gally), so let me know what you think of this please! Hearing some feedback would be great seeing as I'm new to all this. Anyway, I hope you are enjoying this story so far and will continue enjoying what's yet to come!


	7. Releasing

I practically collapsed as I sat down for dinner, bowl in my hand, the table around me empty. I purposefully sat on my own because I couldn’t bring myself to look Newt in the eye, worried I’d say something I would regret. He was the nicest person here by far, and I know he didn’t purposefully leave me like that, it might have been something really important that he left me for. But I was still angry, so it was best to stay away. He was currently sat with the other gardeners and track-hoes, but I didn’t miss how his eyes flicked up to me every so often, clearly feeling bad. I tried to tell myself it was a good thing, that he should be feeling bad, but it didn’t work.

Nick and Alby hadn’t appeared for their food yet, and the other table was full of Gladers I hadn’t even spoken to yet. As well as that, it could have been any one of them who had stolen my clothes, making me feel very untrusting. I felt better sitting on my own, especially looking as much of a mess as I did.

It turns out my straight hair, didn’t stay straight for long. As it dried in the air, frizzy curls started to coil around my shoulders which were much more annoying than straight strands. I was still wearing Gally’s shirt, tucked into the trousers of whichever Glader Gally had stolen them from, I should probably seek him out and apologise for stealing his clothes – if nothing else to prove a point about human decency. There weren’t many boys here close enough to my size for their clothes to fit me so he should be easy enough to find.

I was getting a headache from all the overthinking I was doing, but I couldn’t help it. It was hard not to fill your mind with endless thoughts and questions when you had nothing else to take up space. Not even a bloody name.

Still, focusing on the impossible possibilities was better than sitting here and drowning in the events of the past day and the ultimate conclusion.  
There was no assurance of my safety here.

Currently, my situation completely depended on those in charge and my belief of their moral values, which didn’t sound very comforting to my ears. Despite being originally furious with Newt in particular, now I just felt disappointed. I don’t know why because it wasn’t like I knew any of these people so I shouldn’t have had preconceived expectations that I would have been of importance to them, but when you’re in a situation like this, which was still utterly terrifying to think about, you’re left with very little choice about who to trust and if the name’s on the wall were anything to go by going it alone was not even an option at this point.

I shovelled the food hungrily into my mouth, at least Fry’s cooking brought a little sunshine into my hellish day. I was so engrossed that at first, I didn’t notice the figure plonking down on the bench opposite me. When I did, I barely glanced up to meet Minho’s gaze before turning back to my meal, paying him no attention at all.

So, maybe it was a bit of a petty move, but I was seriously annoyed with everyone here and rightly so. If they couldn’t afford me the decency of respecting my privacy then why should I humour them with a civil greeting? 

We sat in silence for a while and I could as the boy’s eyes practically drilled into my skull as I ate. But I didn’t want to talk, I wanted to think.

If I could gain some sort of logical grip on the situation then I could assess exactly how to proceed without jeopardizing my place here – whatever that was – but every time I tried to think about what happened the hurt blooms so strongly in my chest that it consumes me and all I want to do is scream and cry at the top of my lungs. And I can’t do that. I can’t…

“Greenie?”

“What Minho?” I seethed, slamming bowl onto the table.

Only it wasn’t Minho who spoke. His lips remained sealed in front of me, that casually amused look that always seemed to plaster his face as present as ever. Instead, the voice came from the skinny mop of blonde curls next to the table. I should have known from the accent – it sounded like mine.

I met his eyes and he visibly seemed to flinch, though he tried to hide it. Good. He should feel bad.

I didn’t talk, waiting for him to say something first.

“Can we talk shank?”

Not replying I simply stood from my place at the table leaving the bowl of stew, scraped completely clean of any food whatsoever and gestured him to leave. For a second I debated not following, that tightness returning in my chest as I looked at him, but I shook the thought away in favour of hearing him out.

We ended up in the gardens and Newt, who had glanced at me every few seconds as we walked as if I was going to lash out and strike him any second, or just walk away from him, took a seat on a misshapen bench. I followed his action, making sure to leave a decent amount of distance between the two of us.

The spot was quite secluded, the only sounds being the wind rustling through the trees occasionally and the distant mumblings of Gladers finishing up for the day. It was smart, far enough away to achieve some privacy but not so far that I felt threatened at all. Not that I could ever find Newt as an individual threatening.

Looking at Newt, he appeared to be struggling to find the words he wanted to say. Eventually, though his eyes settled on mine and he seemed to find his voice.

“I’m sorry.”

From the words alone I wanted to scoff, but like always there was such sincerity in Newt’s words. He actually looked in pain, like the thought of me being upset was hurting him.

“Okay.” Was all I could find as a reply, but it wasn’t good enough for him.

“No.” He shook his head, turning away to look back at the gardens, “No, it’s not okay. Shuck…” He breathed deeply, head dropping into his hands, “I promised I’d buggin’ lookout for ya and I’ve already screwed up.”

“You didn’t promise me anything.”

“But I promised myself.” Head still in his hands he carded his fingers through his hair, “I told myself and I told ‘em too, Alby and that, that I’d make sure you’re alright. That was my job, yet the second someone says one bloody thing about the maze and I…”

“The maze?”

He shook his head, “I’m not s’posed to tell you… but I didn’t run out on ya for no reason greenie, I swear I didn’t. Not a good enough reason but…”

“Newt.” I cut him off, having subconsciously drifted closer to the boy our thighs not that far apart from touching.

He lifted his eyes and they sparkled in the evening sunlight, like giant, crestfallen pools of brown. Lines were etched onto his forehead, lips turned down in a pout. Slouched over like this he suddenly looked nothing other than a young boy, sad and dejected. My hand moved without instruction and placed itself on his lower thigh and at that moment I was cautious I’d overstepped a boundary, but he seemed to find some comfort in it, eyes looking down at it and then back up to meet mine.

“Tell me,” I breathed softly.

“The Runners came back today.” Newt’s voice was quiet, almost inaudible but I shuffled closer again and he seemed to alright with the close contact, “Th-they’d – shuck, I shouldn’t be telling you this. I’m supposed to give you hope, not – ”

He sniffled, clearly deciding that he’d come too far to turn back now. I wasn’t helping with his restraint either, urging him on with every look. “They finished the Maze today Greenie.”

There was a pause. Silence hung in the air as the words sunk into the air around us.

“That’s good isn’t it?” I asked quietly, confused at why the boy looked so lost.

“No,” He shook his head, cutting me off, “No it’s not… Because there’s nothing out there!”

Tears finally leaked out of his eyes and he did nothing to rid of them, he just sat there and let the water slowly trickle down his cheeks. His voice dropped low, his huge brown eyes boring straight into mine “They searched the entire maze and there’s nothing… there’s no way out.”

“Not yet.”

My words seemed to cut through his misery, and he looked up again, brows furrowed close together. “Wh-what?”

I managed a small, comforting smile on my face as I reached and cupped his face gently, running each of my thumbs under his eyes and collecting the stray tears along his cheeks. He seemed to melt into the action, and I did too, even if it felt foreign. For a brief moment had I done this before, with someone else out there? Had I been tender and gentle, it felt natural and yet in the same way, not.  
Still, it was an instinct in the moment, and it didn’t feel wrong. So, I left my hands there as I looked him straight in the eyes, speaking gently.

“There’s no way out… yet.” I repeated, moving my hands away from his face to touch his own that rested on his lap, he seemed frozen under my touch but he didn’t move away and the contact felt weirdly nice, so I rested them there. “That doesn’t mean it won’t change. What’s the point of having a maze if there’s not a reason for it? Why not just close the walls and seal us in here?”  
Newt looked as if he wanted to believe me, he really did, but he couldn’t.

“We’ve been looking for two years Greenie…”

“Then we’ll look for another two.” I said firmly, “And then another, and we keep going until something does change.”

He gave me a look that read something like ‘easy to say when you’ve only just got here’ and I sighed knowing he was right. I was still trying to get my head around my existence here, it was easy enough for me to think like this. But would I feel the same if I was still here in a year? In two?

I tried to smile through the thought, looking back at Newt, “And until then… Frypan’s cooking ain’t bad.”

That got a smile out of him.

“I really am sorry Greenie, I didn’t even think-” He started again, the cracks in his appearance immediately re-sealing themselves as he turned back to the original conversation.

“I get it.” I cut him off, however, actually understanding now.

Nothing that had happened had been done with malicious intent, not from Newt anyway. I knew he didn’t mean to hurt me, but now I got it.

This has been his life for two years now and today was the breaking point for him. If I was him all other thoughts would probably have flown out my mind the minute I heard the Runner’s were returning too. I just hated it wasn’t the news he wanted.

The news we all wanted.

“But I do need your help Newt,” I added, “I don’t want you to have to stand outside of my showers, or check up on me every minute to make sure I’m safe. I want to be able to walk around on my own without looking over my shoulder. I want everyone to know that they have to respect me the way I have to respect them or be punished for it…” 

I breathed deeply, noticing that Newt was back into full leadership mode. “I want to be able to trust people…”

I stood up, and he quickly followed. His hair was still all knotted from where it was gripped in his hands, eyes still red-rimmed from the moment when he let himself be real in front of me, but there was no longer the despair on his face and there was no longer the weight in my chest, so I smiled up at him,

“Like I trust you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey Everyone! I'm so sorry it's been so long since I last updated, everything kind of got a bit crazy!
> 
> Developing Marie's character she definitely comes across as more of a thinker than a feeler, especially in the first few chapters so I wanted to explore how she would react to more emotional situations where it is harder to rationalise, especially involving other people's emotions. That's where our amazing Newt comes in! I think he has to be everyone's favourite and I love the idea of the friendship slowly blossoming here and boundaries being explored.
> 
> Also, they finished mapping the maze, watcha think of that?
> 
> Thanks for reading and sticking with me here, I promise I'll try and post more regularly from now on! Please go ahead and leave any comments, they feed my passion.


	8. Building

A new day rose over the Glade, and with it, a new attitude it seemed. At least, that’s what I got from Newt’s smile as I walked into the homestead for breakfast. I joined him, Alby and some of the other guys at their table and it was a meal full of light conversation and tired morning voices, multiple yawns accompanying them. I couldn’t stop the small smile on my face as I started digging into my own portion. I didn’t know if the prospect of food normally made me this happy, but here, even some of Frypan’s more questionable meals were highlights of my day. It always seemed to be the most sociable time amongst Gladers. I grinned, ripping a chunk out of my bread with my teeth, though it immediately dropped when I heard that gruff, angry voice from the doorway.

“You’re late Greenie,”

“Everyone else is still eating breakfast,” I replied, looking over my shoulder at Gally, whose large arms were folded over his chest. His expression didn’t waver as his eyes scanned over the rest of the Gladers before settling back on mine.

“We’re starting early." He said, "Come on,”

He gestured with his head, before leading himself out of the doorway. A glance at the others showed no signs of help, and a sympathetic frown from Newt did little. Well, apparently, they weren’t going to be any use.

Oh well, may as well embrace hell with open arms.

Scarfing down the remnants of my breakfast quicker than I would have liked, I made my way out of the homestead, finding Gally waiting impatiently out the front, scuffing his foot against the ground. He didn’t say anything but raised his eyebrows at me in a way, that was just so condescendingly Gally, I don't think any other boy could pull it off. Choosing to ignore it, I followed him as we headed towards where the builder’s tended to work.

It was a large open space in the Glade, overlooking the med hut. The location meant it was always baked in constant sunlight, which for manual labour didn’t seem wholly efficient, but never mind. From there you could see both the forest and the homestead, and it wasn’t far from the southern door. Piles of logs, handmade workbenches and tools lay scattered across the grass and Gally was right, there were already a handful of boys out there despite how early it was, sawing and hammering planks together – for what, I wasn’t sure, but I guessed I was going to find out soon enough.

Only, we didn’t stop there. Instead, Gally led me around the side of the homestead and out of the view of all the other builders. He didn't say anything, gave me no hint as to what he was doing, just ex[pecting me to follow - which I did. I wanted to ask what was going on, but he didn’t appear to be in a very good mood this morning, so I kept my mouth shut. It would probably be better for both of us in the long run if I spoke as little as possible today. I just had to get through today.

I grew a little tenser as we approached the bathrooms though. What was he doing?

“I wanted to show you this before we get started,” He said before I could ask, pushing the door aside before stepping back to let me in first.

Inside the shower block, there was one stark difference between now and yesterday. Mainly, the large wooden box being uprighted in the corner of the room. A blonde boy stood hammering in nails to fix it together, turning and offering me a quick nod in greeting before getting quickly back to his work.

I didn’t understand.

“Wh-what’s going on?”

“Why don’t you take a look for yourself?”

Slightly hesitantly, I walked into the room. After all, the last time I was in here didn’t end so well, and I was still filled with the paranoia yesterday left me with (as well as a small amount of simmering anger). I didn’t know who had taken my clothes, but no one had made any effort to give them back or even leave them in my hammock, so I was kitted out in whatever spares I could find today – they didn’t get clothes sent up very often apparently. Let’s just say the pants weren’t the right shape and definitely had more space than I could fill in certain areas. I’d had to use a bit of rope to tie them higher up my waist so that they wouldn’t slip down during the day, but they would do for now. I wasn’t wearing Gally’s shirt anymore, thankfully not all the boys were hulks like him, so the tank I was wearing was only a little too loose on my body. Thinking about it, I still hadn’t given Gally back his shirt either, something I should remember to do, especially if I was going to continue to complain about my own lack of clothes.

I reached the structure, realising that it in fact boxed around the showerhead nearest the corner of the room. They were all old, creaky heads in here that water barely tinkled out of – and the water was utterly bloody freezing, half of them didn't even work – but they were better than a bucket in any case.

My hand reached out for the door, giving it a gentle push open, not really knowing what to think.

“It ain’t gonna fall on ya, I promise,” The blonde guy studied my reaction with a smirk, sending me a quick wink when I turned to face him, “I’m too good for that.”

I stepped inside. It was just what it looked like, a long wooden box with a door. It was just less than a metre wide, perfectly enough pace for one person – a bit of a squeeze for two. But there was never going to be a need for more than one person to step inside it. I couldn’t actually believe what I was seeing right now.

“You built this… for me?” I stepped back out, unable to stop the emotion showing on my face,

“Pretty buggin’ cool right?” The blonde boy smirked, “Got a lock an’ everything.”

“It’s – uh, it’s…!” I couldn’t prevent the grin on my face even if I wanted to, “thank you…” I looked between the box and the boy,

“Well, it was Gally who designed it and y’know cut all the stuff up. Yours truly just got the job of assembling it.” He then gestured his head back to the brooding form in the doorway.

I had to try to mask the surprise I felt as I looked at Gally, leant against the door frame at the other end, a casual look on his face, like it meant nothing to him. Everyone here was different, every person was a complete individual that, when taken away from the whole, was a whole lot less intimidating. Unfortunately, Gally just seemed to be a physical representation of everything I saw when the doors to that box first opened, the height and intimidating stance, gruff nature and harsh attitude. It didn’t help that his face was about as unreadable as a wall of stone. But that moment, I felt a bit bad for the way I had previously judged him - a little bit.

One nice action didn’t mean he wasn’t a jerk though. It was just one, very nice action.

I knew my face looked questioning, but he didn’t show much response, simply shrugging as I stared wide-eyed.

“I said I’d sort it.”

It was as if this was no big deal to him, but he had no idea how much this meant to me in reality. It wasn’t just that I would feel safe to shower again, it was more than that, it was the whole idea behind it. Someone actually listened, someone actually heard me and someone actually did something to make it better – something I thought I’d have to do on my own.

I suddenly felt a lot less lonely.

I wanted to say something, but I wasn’t exactly sure what.

“Man, there’s gonna be fights to get in here when you’re not around,” The blonde guy chuckled loudly, pulling my attention back from Gally and towards him, as he knocked against the side of the cubicle.

It resonated with a satisfying thud, and I couldn’t help grinning at this guy. Maybe I was just in a really good mood, but his smile suddenly was almost infectious and his style and manner although pushing the line, seemed innocent enough. I let out a chuckle at his comment, snickering at the image of a dozen guys all shoving for a private space in the shower, as I pushed the door open again with the tips of my fingers, still in a little bit of disbelief.

“The door opens inwards, so you have more control,”

Gally’s seriousness cut through our laughter, clearly not amused. He walked towards us, seemingly far too big for the room once he was inside. Sandwiching himself between me and Ben he reached out and demonstrated how the door worked, his arm accidentally brushing against mine. I couldn’t help the little jolt as his skin brushed against mine, and he must have noticed because he quickly jerked backwards again and took a step away.

“Enough shucking around. We’ve got work to do,” He frowned again, before turning around and walking back out. “You ain’t slacking off today Greenie,”

I was almost offended at the insinuation that I hadn’t been working hard the other four days I’d been here. It wasn’t like I’d just been sitting in my hammock and sobbing my eyes out. I’d done all four days of work and everything that had been asked of me. I had to bite my tongue to stop it lashing out a reply that would get me in trouble.

I looked back at the blonde boy as I followed him out, “Thanks again…I’ll see you around?”

He was a builder, so I’d probably bump into him again at some point during the day.

“Catch’a later Greenie,” He grinned back.

Gally clearly wasn’t waiting and was already making his way back to the building patch when I got to the door, the voice calling after me, “Name’s Ben by the way!”

I couldn’t stop a grin like his sliding onto my face as I hurried to catch up with the grumpy keeper and I was sure when Gally snuck a glance at me, the corners of my mouth were still tilted up.

***

“Is he always like this?”

I spoke with a huff as I turned back to Ben after Gally had just finished yelling at me _again_ because apparently, I’m not cutting this bugging log quick enough, even though I only have the smallest saw ever and the log in question was actually a shucking tree trunk.

Ben laughed at my plight, leaning against the log I was having incredible difficulty cutting through, casually sipping at a jar of water. Even though Gally had placed him at the literal furthest away station from me, he had somehow wormed his way back – not that I was complaining. I enjoyed his company, even if the majority of the time he was only teasing me about my lack of skills.

“Only with the Greenies,” he hummed, “Gal may seem like a slinthead-”

“ _Seem_ is pushing it,” I cut him off, “He just expects me to be able to do this _shucking_ _thing-_ ” I waved the saw around, which probably wasn’t sensible.

I’d been at this for ages now, and the sheen of sweat coating my forehead was enough to prove it. I was right in thinking that this was a stupid place to work, it was stupidly hot right now, but unlike some, I couldn't just strip off when I got gross and sweaty.

“To be honest, most guys finish it by now…”

“Well here’s an idea,” I rose an eyebrow at Ben, “How about you actually help me, instead of just standing there with that stupid,” I tugged at the saw as it jammed into the wood, “Smug,” I tried again, “Grin on your face,”

“Ah, I could,” Ben seemed unaffected by my aggressive words, “But this is the Greenie task, gotta do it on ya own shebean.”

That was his new favourite nickname for me. More unique than Greenie he said, and since I was the first girl, I deserved a more original name. I didn't really care, I just couldn't wait to work out my own bloody name so that everyone would stop having to make them up for me.

“Great.”

I sighed, finally wrenching the saw free. I just didn’t get it; it shouldn’t be this bloody impossible. Logically, the wood should be cut. And it was cutting, just very, very slowly. I wasn’t even halfway through the log yet, and this was just meant to be my ‘starter activity’.

Looking around the space, I wasn’t only separated from Ben, but my workstation was separate from every other one too, metres away from any of the other guys. Apparently, it was because Gally didn’t trust me with any real work yet, but I had my suspicions that there was more to it than that.

I couldn’t help but feel that this was the Keeper's way of keeping the boys away from me - and I didn’t blame him for trying to do so after the fuss I kicked up yesterday - but now I was stranded away from everyone. There was no chance of me actually getting to know people if I was stationed on the other side of the clearing, and until people did know me, I would just remain the mysterious new girl.

Newt had warned me about the builders, I don’t think he trusted them much, but if they were all more like Ben then I should have at least been able to talk to them. How was I going to prove I wasn’t this strange, outsider thing if I couldn’t show the people here that I was just like them. At least there hadn’t been any weird looks or lewd remarks yet, though a part of me thought that might also have been down to Gally. The shank could be seriously scary when he wanted to be, I couldn’t be the only one intimidated by the guy.

“You always been a builder?”

“Yeah,” Ben sighed, “When you get a job ya kinda stick with it… well unless you’re a runner of course.”

“A runner? You mean like Minho and that lot?”

“Well yeah, you’ve got to be recommended by a keeper, and then go through training and all that klunk before you’re even allowed to step foot in the maze but…”

When he spoke his eyes kind of drifted away and his tone changed, almost as if…

“Is that what you want? To be a runner?”

He looked up, startled at my question. I don’t think Ben realised how expressive his face was. It was lucky this guy didn’t have any secrets to hide in here, or they’d all be given away within seconds.

“I, uh, well, I dunno…” He stumbled over his words, before sighing and speaking lowly, “Gally would never put a word in anyways,”

“How do you know?”

“He’s never recommended any of his builders before,” He told me, “I don’t think he can bring himself to after-”

Whatever he was going to say next got cut off by a large yell from the very shank in question.

“Oi Ben!” he yelled, starting towards us, “Break’s over ya shank! Get back to work!”

“Aye, aye, Captain!” Ben called back, even going so far as to throw a salute at the Keeper in the process - the grin plastered back on his face as if it never left.

I thought Gally would have had a go at him for sure, but he only sent the blond boy a warning look – one that could almost be considered playful if that was a word that could even be associated with Gally.

“Get back to work,” He told him as soon as he reached speaking distance and Ben immediately left, leaving me with a final wink that had me chuckling.

Gally didn’t make any moves to leave me alone as well though. He kept making his way nearer, as always, arms folded across his chest and that infuriatingly undecipherable expression on his face. It made me feel like he knew something I didn’t; like he was clued in about the world whilst I was clueless.

“Captain Gally?” I asked as he approached my bench, purposefully quirking an eyebrow, “So that’s a thing is it?”

“Get back to work Greenie,” He grumbled, looking down at my handiwork with distaste, “You still not done with that yet?”

He sounded bored, and that irked me a bit. How could he expect me to know what I was doing when he abandoned me the first chance he got? I couldn’t remember ever holding a shucking saw in my life, I couldn’t remember doing anything in my life before these four days! How the hell was I meant to know how to saw a bloody log?”

“Oh yes,” I rolled my eyes, gesturing to the lump of tree, “As you can see I finished it hours ago.”

“Of course you the only one who can’t cut a shucking log,”

“Well, it’s not like you showed me how!” I snapped at him, unable to stop myself.

He wasn’t impressed. His scowl deepened and he grabbed the saw from where I’d abandoned on the floor, gesturing to it angrily,

“Saw, wood, arm… it’s not that difficult,”

I huffed but took it back off him anyway. He nodded towards the log and it was clear what he was waiting for. He was waiting for me to embarrass myself in front of him, but it wasn’t like I had much of a choice about doing so anyway.

I started sawing again, and it only took about thirty seconds before the damn thing got stuck. With a growl, I began trying to tug it back out, but I was having even less luck than last time, probably because the shucking creators loved the irony of me failing whilst Gally watched.

After a few minutes, I heard him audibly sigh, but refused to look up and reach his eyes. I just kept tugging.

Suddenly a warm hand was on my wrist and I practically jumped back into a hard chest. Unlike in the showers, this time Gally ignored my reaction, simply guiding me to pull the saw from the wood.

“You’re holding it all wrong.” His voice was surprisingly quiet in my ear as re-arranged my grip on the tool with his other hand, “Look… keep your elbows close to your body and angle it down… try it now,”

I did, and annoyingly, he was right. The saw moved forward and backwards with more ease, and it didn’t require quite so much muscle power from my aching arms. The entire time, I could practically feel the heat radiating from behind me as Gally’s large hands wrapped on top of my own, readjusting my grip when I started to go slightly off.

“Oh, uh, thanks,” My voice was much quieter than I expected and shakier.

He let go and took a step back. I immediately felt the difference.

“Keep going,” He encouraged when I stopped, folding his arms back over his chest.

I kept sawing and tried not to look up again. My cheeks were flushed, I could feel the heat in them, and that was embarrassing enough.

I carried on for a while, both of us in silence. Gally standing and watching, and me making my way through the log, admittedly making more leeway than before.

I felt so under scrutiny in his gaze, and it made me uncomfortable – but not _that_ way – not in the way that I had become used to being since arriving here. He was studying my work, and that made it feel different. Despite not liking the guy, I wanted to impress him. I wanted to impress everyone here, even just to disprove the image a lot of them already had in their heads about the Greenie-girl.

The air seemed to grow thick between us until I literally couldn’t stand his eyes on me anymore. I needed to say something, anything.

“Did you know Ben wants to be a runner?”

He didn’t reply straight away, but sighed when I didn’t get back to work,

“It’s not that simple Greenie,”

“So you do know?”

I was surprised Gally knew. If he didn’t why wouldn’t he recommend him? As far as I saw, there was only Minho and two other guys running out there. If it was up to me, I’d surely have everyone I could running that thing – sure you’d have to be careful with the doors and all, but all hands on deck would only increase the chance of finding a way out. I mean, what if Minho or the others miss something that changes because they’re not in the area? The more people the better, surely. And Ben _wanted_ to do it.

“Keep working… Of course I know,” Gally said, and I grudgingly started sawing again. He hummed, voice raising in pitch slightly, “You two seem to have got very cosy with each other…”

“I just think he’d be good at it.” I was not about to dignify his previous insinuation with an answer, “You know, he clearly wants to-”

“Listen Greenie,” I was suddenly cut of in a harsher voice than I’d ever heard him use before. I stopped immediately, finding a glare so hard on his face it was like looking at a completely different person. 

He came right up close, a snarl curling on his lip, “You’ve been here a week.”

He growled, “How the _hell_ do know what someone would or wouldn’t be good at? From what I heard you turned tail and ran the second you got close to them doors.”

I couldn’t help shrinking backwards slightly. I didn’t like this Gally. Normally he was, I don’t know, intimidating, you could tell how forceful a person he was just by looking at him, but right now… he actually scared me.

“I just thought-”

“Well don’t okay?!” He yelled, so loud that even the other builders paused in their work and looked up to see what was happening.

I wasn’t the only one who noticed, Gally did too. He looked back at me and it was like my expression just dawned on him, did I look as distressed as I felt?

He took a step back, took a few breaths, and then looked at me again, dead in the eye. “Just focus on what you should be doing – _your job_ – and keep your mouth shut about things you know shuck all about.”

He turned around and stormed away.

I watched as another builder called out to him, but Gally just kept walking. Past the benches, past the Gladers and straight into the forest and out of sight.

Looks passed between his retreating figure and me, curious boys trying to figure out what happened. I wasn’t quite sure what just went on either.

My eyes stung, but I heaved back any trace of water in them and tightened my ponytail, silently turning back to my work.

I carried on sawing, the way Gally had shown me, until the end of the log finally fell onto the ground with a deadened thud.

But all the while, I couldn’t shake the feeling that, although he was the one who lost his temper, I was the one who was in the wrong.

**Author's Note:**

> Hi all! Sorry, it's been a while since I last updated. I've been working on another story, so any twilight fans reading this, feel free to check it out! But, I promise I'm still working on this one and I'll try and make updates more regular from now on.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed the chapter!
> 
> xx


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